FORMER SCHOOL TEACHING ASSISTANT JAILED FOR SEX ASSAULT ON CHILD UNDER 13
A former teaching assistant at an Essex school has been sentenced to prison for sexually assaulting a minor.Michael Pena-Briggs, aged 25, received a four-year prison term on June 6, more than three years after his initial arrest at his residence in The Grove, Cambridge.
Essex Police’s child abuse investigation team (CAIT) detained him in March 2019 shortly after the incident was reported.
Following a detailed and delicate investigation, he was formally charged in October of that year with the sexual assault of a child under 13.
Pena-Briggs faced trial at Chelmsford Crown Court in May 2021, but the case resulted in a hung jury.
A retrial commenced in the following year, culminating on May 9 when he was found guilty in less than two hours.
In addition to his imprisonment, he will be subject to lifelong inclusion on the sex offenders’ register.
